Island



'NITED STATES PATENT Oriana,

JAMES lWIEIKLE, OFIROVIDENOE, RHODE ISLAND.

BLEA CHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,096, dated March 16, 1886. Application filed October 8, 1885. Serial No. 179,310. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: mainly, by bringing the cloth or other mate- Be it known that 1, JAMES MEIKLE, a subrial to be operated upon into such a position ject of the Queen of Great Britain, but who has with reference to a series of pipes carrying the declared his intention of becoming a citizen bleaching-liquid (in an inclosed keir or boiler) of the United States, residing in Providence, that the solution may be forced,under considin the county of Providence and State of erable pressure, entirely through the inter- Rhode Island, have invented certain new and stices of the fabric. Large quantities of the useful Improvements in Bleaching Apparatus, chemical solution are thus brought into conof which the following is a specification. tact with every portion of each one of the 6c My invention has reference to that class of threads of the fabric in a short period of time, apparatus required for cleansing and bleachthus rapidly producing both the cleansing ing cotton and other textile fabrics. and the bleaching effects.

The object of my invention is to provide im- In Letters Patent No. 311,349, issued to me proved apparatus whereby the cloth or other January 27, 1885, I have described an appa- 6;

r substance to be treated may be operated upon ratus for carrying out the process which I in a more thorough and effective manner than have described. heretofore, whereby the result may be pro- My present invention consists in certain adduced in a shorter'time without injury to the ditions to the apparatus described in said Letfabric, and whereby larger quantities of goods ters Patent, by means of which I am enabled 7 may be operated upon within the same area to so treat the goods before they are carried and with less shrinkage to the goods. into the inclosed keir that the whole process The essential features of the process of is very much shortened and nearly the full bleaching fabrics, as ordinarily conducted at width of the goods is preserved.

k the present time, consist, generally, in succes- In the ordinary process of bleaching,the cloth 7 sive boilings and washings in solutions of lime, is always considerably reduced in its width, I in Very dilute acid, in a solution of soda-ash, so that a piece of goods woven, say, thirty-six tervals between these several treatments the thirty-two or thirty-three inches after it i fabric is washed many times in water, and a bleached. This is caused originally by the 2 period of not less than from four to eightdays first wetting of the goods, and after that the is necessarilyoccupied in carrying out the straining of the piece lengthwise in carrying whole process. The object of the several difit through the machinery necessary for the ferent and successivetreatments is to entirely bleaching process tends .to lengthen the same, remove from the fabric the oils and other exresulting in the above narrowing, which can- 8 traneous substances which have become in not afterwards be remedied to any consideracorporated with it during the process of manble extent, but the goods remain permanently ufacture, and to enable the chlorine, which is of less width than they were woven. By my the principal bleaching agent, to exert full improved process the cloth after bleaching and, equal chemical action upon all parts of remains nearly the same width as at first, as I r the fabric, so as to produce a uniform whiteprovide for a slight, but continuous, stretchness of the same in every part. ing of the goods in the direction of their width The essential feature of my invention conafter the first wetting and before they passinto sists in exposing the fabric to the action of the the keir. bleaching agent or solutions in such a manner In the accompanying drawings, Figp rel is r that the foreign substances are not only forced an elevation, partly in section,.showing appaout of the fabric by mechanical action, but ratus embodyinglthe essential features of my the bleaching liquid is brought into intimate, invention. Fig. 2 is a detailview of the .rapid, and effectual contact with every porrollers. tion of it, thereby producing the desired effect Similar letters denote like parts. :0 with great rapidity, and at the same time I have ascertained by experiment that in without injury to the fabric. This I effect, bleaching by my process it is wholly unnecesand in solutions of chlorine. During the ininches wide, will not ordinarily measure oveq sary in most cases to use successively several solutions, as in the ordinary process of bleaching. A single solution containing the necessary elements, both for cleansing and bleach- 5 ing the fibers, has been found generally suffi- 'cient to produce the best results. Several pieces of cloth are taken at the same time, and theseare well soaked in a tank containing the same liquid as it is intended to use throughout the process. The ends of the several pieces are then taken together and are drawn out of the tank over rollers in the usual manner. They are then made to pass through a second tank containing the same kind of liquid, and while passing through this tank the cloth is successively subjected to sprays or streams of the liquid, which is forced against it in a heated state through perforated pipes, suitably arranged for the )purpose. The object of this is to more perfectly cleanse the fabric and to have it more thoroughly impregnated with the liquid, and also to have the oils and other extraneous substances more nearly dissolved and loosened -before it enters into the keir. While being thus subjected to the spray of the liquid through perforated pipes in this tank, the cloth is passed successively between several pairs of fluted rollers, so arranged as to keep I the cloth stretched out to its full width. As it leaves this tank it passes through a pair of nipping-rollers, and is then spread out and ---fol@.d,b ack and forth in the usual manner, in folds of a yard, or thereabout, in length, until a large number of thicknesses have been spread evenly together. I have found in practice that three hundred thicknesses or more may conveniently be laid together and can be successively operated upon by the solution, as applied in the next step of the process. These folds are laid upon an endless belt, and from this are carried through suc- 'cessive pairs of rollers to the inside of the keinz, where the principal part of the operation of bleaching is accomplished. The keir is of sufficient length to admit of a number of series of folds or layers of cloth, as above described. The width of the keiris the same as the width of the cloth. WVithin the keir the series of folds are received upon an endless belt or apron, of wire-cloth or similar open-construction, and are carried slowly through the keir in the direction of its length, passing out through a system of rollers similar to that at its entrance. Within the keir and just above the layers of cloth a system of perforated pipes is arranged, the pipes being placed side by side, extending lengthwise of the keir and covering its entire breadth. These pipes have numerous perforations in their under sides, and are intended to conveythe bleaching solution and to discharge the same forcibly through the perforations and downward upon the layers of cloth. over the whole extent as spread out within the keir. The mass of folded cloth rests upon he endless apron before mentioned, beneath which is a perforated false bottom of the keir a few inches above the main bottom. Underneath this false-bottom the solution collects after having been forced through the mass of cloth, from which it is pumped back into the same tank that supplies it to the perforated pipes above the cloth. In this way the same solution. can be used over and over again 'until its strength is exhausted, when it may be drawn away from the bottom of the keir and a new supply provided.

The two most important features of my invention consist in first applying the solution to the cloth by means of the perforated showering-pipes, as before explained, in the tank before it enters the keir, whereby it is prepared for the process within the keir, and in the second application of the liquid by the pipes within the keir, which applies it in a finely-divided state and under sufficient pressure to force the liquid through the entire mass of cloth and over its wholesurface in so effectual and rapida manner as to both cleanse and bleach the cloth in a short time.

In some cases, without my present improve ments, it might be necessary to pass the cloth in the same manner through a similar keir with a fresh solution and under less pressure than in the first one; but this will probably never be the case under the improved process.

After leaving the keir the fabric is thoroughly washed in clear water, after which it may be soaked in chlorine liquor. Then it should be soured and washed in clear water, and then dried.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, A represents a tank in which the cloth 0 is first soaked, the tank being partly filled with a solution containing the bleaching and cleansing agents. From the tank A the several ends of the cloth are passed over the roller This tank is also partly B into the tank A. filled with a similar solution. It passes down into the tank and under the roller E, thence up and between the rollers F, then under the roller E, again between the rollers F, and so on under and between the successive similar rollers until it passes out of the tank between the rollers F.

At a convenient distance above the tank A is situated the tank A. This tank contains the same kind of solution as the tanks previously mentioned, and is kept in a heated condition by steam,which enters through the pipe S, being admitted to the tank by the valvesand to the system of pipes by the valve 8'. From the tank A the pipe S supplies the branch S, the latter extending along one side of the tank A, on the inside and in position about midway between the systems of rollers E and F, and terminating in the horizontal pipes 8 the length of which is equal to the width of the tank and of the cloth, and which extend across the tank in the path of the fabric as it moves. These are perforated in such a manner that as the cloth passes downward IIO All;

, and upward under and between the suhcesl its length in a position just overthe layers sive rollers, as described, it receives the soluof the pipes, as shown in the figure.

tion forced upon it in the shape offine streams or spray, and it also dips into the solution every time that it passes under the rollers E E. These pipes are, moreover, so situated that the several pieces of cloth are carried some on one side and some on the other As many of the pipes as may be necessary can thus be used, depending upon the number of pieces of cloth operated upon, so that the number of pieces operated upon by each pipe shall be such as will receive the full effect of the solution. The result is that when the cloth leaves this tank it has been thoroughly penetrated by the solution, and the oils and other extraneous substances have become nearly dissolved and loosened from the fabric. Each of the pairs of rollers F F have their surfaces fluted, and are arranged so that the elevations upon the surface of one roller fit into the depressions upon the surface of the other. (See Fig. 2.) By this means the fabric is kept by a gentle strain to its full width, and the shrinking effect of the first wetting in the tank A is overcome, so that when the cloth leaves the tank A through the last pair of rollers F, which are smooth on their surfaces, it is nearly of the same width as before it was placed in the tank A. After that the cloth shrinks but very little. The advantage gained by this device in-this connection is that the shrinkage caused by the first soaking is immediately counteracted.

The rollers F press the several pieces of cloth closely together, and it is then carried onto the upper side of the endless belt or apron G, which moves in the direction of the arrow over the rollers G" G. On this belt the cloth is folded back and forth in folds of about one yard evenly and smoothly, until a sufficientnumber of thicknesses have been made to be properly operated upon within the keir. From "the endless belt G the cloth thus folded is led between two pairs of closely-fitting rollers, H and H. These rollers are pressed together by suitable springs, and have their bearings within the sides of the boX X. This boxis secure- 1 y attached to the end of the keir K. Through an opening, 7;,in the end of the keir,the cloth, having its layers pressed closely together, enters the keir, and the series of folds are laid successively upon the endless belt L, which passes in the direction of the arrow over the rollers Z I. This belt is preferably made of wire or other woven material,so as to be as open as possible and not obstruct the passage of the solution downward as it is forced through the cloth. The width of the keir is the same as the width of the cloth, so that the folds of the latter fit as closely as practicable the sides of the former. The cloth having passed through the keir leaves the same through a similar opening, it, and passes between the rollers H and H Vithin the keir, and extending throughout of cloth, is a system of pipes, 1?. These are placed closely side by side throughout the width of the keir, and are each joined to the cross-pipe P. Into this is led the supply-pipe P from the tank 0, which tank contains the bleaching solution. The solution in the tank is heated by the steam-pipe s. The valve 8 admits the solution from the tank 0 to the pipe P. A pressure of from sixty to one hundred pounds per square inch is preferably maintained within the tank 0 and is communicated to the supply-pipe 1?. As the cloth passes through the keir on the endless belt L the solution is admitted to the system of pipes P by turning the valve 5 and under the press ure above stated the solution is driven through the perforations which closely cover the under surface of the pipes I, is showered upon and forced through the layers of cloth spread out evenly beneath and fitting the sides of the keir closely. The solution, having passedthrough the cloth and through the wire belt L, passes also through the perforated false bottom K and falls to the bottom of the keir. The pipe 1? leads from the bottom of the keir into the tank 0, and the pump U within said pipe is kept in action to remove the solution from the bottom of the keir into the tank 0.

It is evident that by this means a rapid circulation of the solutionv may be kept up as long as the latter is fit to use. is exhausted,it may be drawn off by means of pipe 1 below the keir, and new solution may be let into the tank 0 by means of the pipe P The required circulation of liquids between the tanks A and A is kept up in the same manner by means of the pump V and pipe S, and it may be finally drawn off by the pipe S. After the cloth has left the keir it is led into the tank It, in which it is thoroughly washed. It may then be soaked in a solution of chlorine to further whiten it, then soured, washed, and dried in the ordinary manner. It is not necessary that there shall be two tank s, A and O, as described, as a single tank can be used,froin which both the pipe S and 1? may be supplied; but it is preferable to use two, for the reason that the solution in the tank 0 can thus be kept cleaner and in better condition for the final process as carried on within the keir. A great part of the oil and other substances is washed from the fabric in its passage through the tank A, and the solution in this tank therefore becomes soiled and requires renewal oftener than in thetank O. By keeping them separate, therefore. it will be seen that the process is more perfect in its effects and less time is consumed in the operation of bleaching within the keir. r

I have found in practice that by means of the additional improvements in the apparatus as herein described I can shorten the time occupied for bleaching considerably as compared with the time occupied by the process without them. Larger quantities'of cloth can be oper- When the solution ated within the same time,'and when the cloth is finished it has nearly the same width as when it came from the loom.

I do not limit myself to the number of series 5 of rollers in the tank A shown in the drawings. Two or three series may be sufficient for ordinary purposes, but more can be used in case the fabric requires the application of greater quantities of the solution to properly IO prepare it for going into the keir.

I claim as my invention 1.. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, ina bleaching apparatus, of a tank for holding the bleaching solution and r 5 having a series of fluted or corrugated rollers whereby the fabric is kept extended to its full width while passing through said tank, and a. bleaching keir or boiler containing an endless belt or apron within the same for conveying 20 the fabric, a system of perforated pipes extending above said belt or apron, and means,

substantially such as described, for conveying the fabric into and out of said keir;

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with a tank, A, of the series 25 of rollers E, F, E, and F, and the system of perforated pipes S 3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a tank A, the series of rollers E E, the corrugated rollers F F, the 30 perforated pipes S with the keir or boiler K, containing the beltL, perforated pipes P, and the means, substantially such as described, for conveying the fabric through the tank A and the keir K.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 24th day of September, A. D. 1885. v

' JAMES MEIKLE. \Vitnesses:

DANL. W. EDGEOOMB, .GIIARLES A. TERRY. 

